~ Combing Life with Books

TRAVIS (BUFFALO ROCKER SERIES) by N. Kuhn

Lots of people want to be Rock Stars, but the question is, can they handle it? Travis Dane has never wanted anything more than to be a Rock Star. He dreamed of being just like his father, Marcus. What the idol in his life never told him, is that the road to fame is paved with self destruction. Music, drugs, drinking, fighting and crazy stalkers all battle for his attention. Throw in an uncaring mother and Paparazzi following his every step is disaster waiting to happen.

Brittany Landers has never loved anyone like she did Trav. But his temper and drug use drove her into the arms of another man. Finally getting her life on track, striving for her law degree, can Aiden Bland take her mind off of Travis and what he’s going through? Or is he just Mr Wrong Right Now? The emotional rollercoaster of fame is never a Happily Ever After.

Tossing her one of my shirts, so she can clean up, I pull on a pair of boxers. A red thong happens to fall out of the shirt in her hand. Holding it up with one finger, she stares at me.

“Who’s is this? My ass isn’t this big.” Running a hand through my hair, it’s pointless, as it just falls right back into my eyes. Turning to look at the naked woman in my bed, she is beautiful, even when she’s angry. Maybe this is what I need, Britt’s a handful right now. She will only drag me down and I have to focus on music. Now that we have the Battle of the Bands to get ready for, and we have gigs almost every night, Death Polish is on its way. We will be the next Poisonous Love. I’m going to be just like my dad.

“I said whose is this? Are you screwing around on me Trav? What the hell? Some groupie skank I would assume,” Brittany pouts, snuggling back up under the sheets.

“Britt, you need to go. Bas and I have to go practice. I don’t have time for this shit. Get dressed and run back to mommy. Go get your nails done or something.”

“You know what Trav? You’re a loser. Fuck this. I’m done. You treat me like crap, and I don’t know why I put up with it. I can get a better lay anywhere else, from guys with more money than you. You will never amount to anything. You’re just a wannabe loser with big dreams that won’t come true. Sticking your dick in anything that comes along. Why can’t you get a real job? A real place, instead of this shit hole? Time to grow up and be a man. We aren’t in high school anymore.”

My Review

At the beginning of this book, I seriously thought there would be no way I would connect to these characters. Drinking, drugs, sex, abusive behavior and language. No way would I care about Travis, but with each page I read, I became more aware of what was underneath the surface of this man. By the end of the book, I was hooked. Travis didn’t have the traditional childhood of hugs, love and acceptance. His was filled with lies, separation, sadness and anger. A mother who was Bible thumping and shoving her religion at him, who kept things about his father from him. A father who was to wrapped up in being in a band, making money, doing drugs and having sex with groupies. Travis really had no one but himself, his band members and Britt.

Britt, coming from a high-class family whose life was planned out for her, fell for Travis as a young teenager. A love that never let go of her heart even though she fought it for years. After a scene that went bad in the beginning of the book, she decided to focus on her life and go back to school to become a lawyer. Meeting a man who was in her social class and she was sure her parents would finally approve of, she stepped into a new direction, but still longed for Travis.

This book, although not highly intense, does take you behind doors in the life of a rocker. The groupies who will throw themselves at you, tell you what you want to hear just to be able to say they slept with a big name lead singer and ruin your life was what Travis was faced with daily after Britt left. You see how a band can easily fall apart due to egos, drugs, women. How even your own family members will be more than happy to use you to gain money and lie and cheat to take whatever they feel they are entitled to. You will also see how important it is for those in the band to have people who love them and have their back.

Travis finally saw the light and I love how we were invited to witness his transformation, from being at the lowest part in life, to rehab, making amends, receiving forgiveness and a second chance. We were there when he experienced the deaths of those he loved and had to watch him realize that he will never get the answers to his childhood he so longed for. He created a new family and I love how the author expressed the importance of loyalty, love and acceptance as needs Travis and Britt needed to experience.

This is a quick and easy read, but an emotional one. I had a hard time putting it down once I started it because it was fast paced and kept me drawn into their lives. I think it has some important messages that we all need to be reminded of such as no matter what career a person has, they are still human and need the same validation and love that we experience in our lives. I really enjoyed going from thinking Travis was going to be a jerk to being a man who I was invested in. I loved how the author allowed us to see the feelings that Britt had to work out before she could decide if Travis was the man for her.

N Kuhn was raised in a small town, in the middle of nowhere. Small town life is something she cherishes. Having spent her afternoons outside or with a book, she grew up with a love of reading and writing. Her mother and grandmother fully encouraged this in her. Many years later, after a husband and children, she made a promise to her dying grandmother to fulfill her dream of being an author. Her grandmother lived to see Nicole’s name in print. This was a turning moment for her. Driven by ambition and a promise made, she has since published her first trilogy (The Mohawk Series). N Kuhn has also signed on with WheelMan Press for Tucked In (The Hollywood Files) series as well as Nevermore Press for the much anticipated Buffalo Rocker Series, and Parlor Tricks.

When not writing, Nicole spends her time cuddling up with her daughter or enjoying her husbands company. Encouraging reading in our youth is something Nicole feels strongly about. She reads to her daughter daily and loves to see others do the same. She exists purely on coffee and still enjoys to read as much as she enjoys writing.